Stuart Heaton

Case

Details: In July 1991, carpenter Stuart Heaton was accused of the murder of Krystal Nabb, who was found raped and stabbed to death with scissors in her parent's trailer. An autopsy showed that she was three months pregnant at the time. Stuart was an old friend of Curtis Nabb, Crystal's brother; police were suspicious of him because of the cuts on his hands, which he claimed were from his job as a carpenter. However, he also had cuts on his forehead and other marks on his body. Authorities also found that he had a truck identical to the one seen by eyewitnesses outside of the Nabb trailer on the day of the murder.
He was indicted in September of 1991. Then, a blood sample taken from Stuart was shown to have been matched the semen found on Krystal's body, but the probability of it being someone else was 52,600 to 1. However, Stuart's mother claimed that there was other evidence at the crime scene that did not match Stuart.
At trial, Curtis Nabb said that he had found Stuart in bed with his older sister Melanie about two years earlier. Stuart's wife was also a witness at the trial; she stated that Stuart had different clothes on during the afternoon of the murder than during the morning. Prosecutors suggested that Stuart had hidden a pair of bloody blue jeans sometime during that day. Two more witnesses gave Stuart an alibi for the time of the murder, but the prosecution was able to show that their testimony was unreliable. For unknown reasons, Stuart did not testify on his own behalf at the trial.
Stuart Heaton was found guilty of first degree murder in the death of Krystal Nabb. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Despite this circumstantial evidence and DNA evidence from the prosecution, some claim that Stuart was railroaded. Investigative journalist David Protes began looking into the case after Stuart was convicted. He looked at the records for trucks registered in Ramsey, Illinois, that matched the description of the truck seen outside the Nabb home. He narrowed down the list to twelve, including Stuart's, that matched the description. One of the other truck owners apparently had a lengthy criminal record and knew Krystal.
According to the statistic on the DNA sample used at trial, there were at least 4,800 people in the United States that had the same profile as the one found on Krystal's body. Stuart's new lawyers found that Dr. Robert Allen, the DNA specialist that testified at Stuart's trial, had retracted his methods that he had used to identify Stuart's DNA on Krystal's body. Protes stated that the DNA sample on Krystal's body was old and crusty and should not have been used at trial.
He also found evidence of subjectivity in Allen's reports. Allen's colleague felt that the DNA evidence was not strong enough to convict a person. However, the prosecutors maintain that the other evidence, including the various witness statements, and the cuts on Stuart's hands, were also key in proving Stuart's guilt. To this day, Stuart's guilt or innocence in the case is debated.Extra Notes: This case first aired on the December 16, 1994 episode. The case was also documented on The Investigators.Results: Solved. In 2001, a new round of DNA testing was done that proved Stuart was the killer, and the chance of it being someone else's DNA was over 31 billion to 1. However, some supporters still believe that he is innocent despite the DNA evidence.Links: